And Now, The End Is Near.

Welcome To The ...... final Capitol Ideas post of 2006.We're off to begin some long delayed R&R over the weekend, and won't be returning until after the New Year.So, today, we're indulging our inner High Fidelity geek, and will leave you with out list of the Top 10 Political Stories of 2006. That list, along with some closing observations, starts after the jump.

Like Casey Kasem ...... we're counting 'em down from No. 10 to No. 1. So here we go:10. Operation Clean Sweep Implodes.As unsurprising as it was, it was still kind of sad to see the Ur anti-pay raise group founded by Lebanon County businessman Russ Diamond collapse
in an undignified heap of finger-pointing and recrimination last summer. But, as one particularly sage friend put it, the group ended up being the Dog Who Caught The Mailman. Finding themselves saddled with influence, the Clean Sweepers never really figured out what to do with it.9. Jim Seif Gets The Axe.After spending nearly 15 minutes as Bill Scranton's campaign manager, Jim Seif fell on his
sword after a January PCN appearance in which he described Lynn Swann as the "rich white guy" in the 2006 gubernatorial campaign.Despite heroic efforts by paramedics to extricate Seif's head from his posterior, his gaffe proved to be one of the killing blows of Scranton's abortive gubernatorial campaign.In retrospect, Seif's comments were hopelessly ironic, because, as history has proven, Swann staffers were pretty much selling their plasma to keep the lights on in November.

8. Murtha v. Irey.In retrospect, this ended up being not much of a race at all. Murtha, of Johnstown, ended
up stomping Irey, a photogenic Washington County commissioner, who tried to use Murtha's status as an anti-war poster boy against him.Our favorite moment of the campaign came when hordes of anti-war protesters descended on Johnstown in September for a weekend rally on Murtha's behalf. For a moment there, Pennsylvania became Ground Zero in the debate over Iraq, which made the state a Happy Hunting Ground for Reporters Who Cover Politics.And, for that, we are grateful

7.Polls, Polls, Polls, Polls.If there was an electorate anywhere in this great land of ours that was more poked, prodded, probed, and otherwise annoyed to distraction than the Keystone State's, we're surely not aware of it. By our count, there were at least three institutional pollsters working in Pennsylvania this campaign season. And there were at least four or five firms more of dubious provenance who parachuted onto the landscape (Yes, Strategic Vision, we're looking at you.). And that's not even counting all the cooked internal polls the candidates spread around when they thought it would serve their purposes. Our New Year's Resolution for the next campaign cycle? Not to spend as much time writing about opinion polls. Yeah .. we'll see how long that lasts.We're junkies. We'll crack. We know it.

6. Curt Weldon Goes Off The Reservation.In October, Rolling Stone magazine referred to the Delaware County congressman as a
"conspiracy nut," who "would be laughed off as a harmless crank if he weren't vice-chair of the House Armed Services Committee. When he doesn't like intelligence he hears from some of America's spies, he makes up his own."After having his life complicated immeasurably by an FBI probe of his daughter's well-connected lobbying shop, Weldon ended up losing to Democrat Joe Sestak, a retired U.S. Navy vice admiral who has some of his own unsettling Capt. Queeg-like tendencies.Because it's the holidays, and we're feeling magnanimous, we're going to resist the temptation to make the obligatory steel balls joke here.But only just.

5. The May Massacre.Do we even really need to go over this one again? Seventeen legislators lose their jobs in
the May 16 primary in a tsunami of anti-incumbent sentiment. Top two victims: Senate President Pro Tempore Robert C. Jubelirer, R-Blair and Senate Majority Leader David J. Brightbill, R-Lebanon. Brightbill and Jubelirer lost to two guys we're still having trouble telling apart. We're pretty sure one of them's bland and from Altoona, while the other is bland and from Lebanon.Should make their floor speeches just a laff riot.

4. Speaking Of Pride Going Before The Fall.We'd be remiss if we didn't mention House Minority Leader Mike Veon'sBlind Date With
Karma this Election Day. After becoming the last state lawmaker in the known universe to vote against repealing the 2005 pay raises, Veon lost his 14th District seat to Republican Jim Marshall.Proving that payback can be a monster, posterity obliges us to point out that Veon won election to the House in 1984 by defeating a guy who had voted in favor of an unpopular legislative pay raise. Veon's defeat also prompted someone with too much time on their hands to compare him to Moses because he didn't live to see the Democrats take the majority in the state House. Well, at least the majority for now. Who knows how that Chester County recount is going to turn out.

3. Gambling Arrives In Pennsylvania ...... and Gov. Ed almost goes and wrecks it by observing that, for some seniors, playing the slots sure beats staying at home and talking to the cats."These are people who lead very gray lives," said Rendell, who stuck his foot in his mouth and still stomped Lynn Swann
anyway. "They don't see their sons and daughters very much. They don't have much social interaction.Then, reducing Pennsylvania's biggest voting bloc to a bunch of Pavlovian lab mice, he noted that when those same seniors get on the bus to go to Atlantic City, "They're happy. They have fun. They see the bright lights. They hear music. They pull that slot machine, and with each pull, they think they have a chance to win."Oddly, it's the same way a lot of folks felt after they left the voting booth.Right, Don Sherwood?2. Hazleton Decides It's Too Close To Mexico ...... So city officials pass a strict, anti-illegal immigrant ordinance that immediately reduces the NePa city to a punchline. At the same time, however, conservatives clutch Mayor Lou Barletta to their repressed bosoms and proclaim him a hero of American values. Remind us again ... who's talking about immigration as a looming national crisis now?And they said it wasn't a wedge issue.

1. The Fall Of Rick Santorum.Sure, we all saw this one coming. But did anyone symbolize the GOP's fall from grace this
year so much as Our Rick? Even as he begged like a prom queen for U.S. Sen.-Elect Hermetic Bob to debate him anywhere, anytime, Santorum spent much of the fall campaign trying to land body blows on a candidate who always seemed just out of his reach. Then there were the missteps, ranging from the questions about his residency, to That Book, the "Corner Bar" ad featuring a dead guy, and his scary talk in the closing days, where he walked around like Darth Vader, warning of fiery nuclear death unless Pennsylvanians sent him back to Washington.And we have to admit, we're going to miss him a little bit. Santorum was a guaranteed source of copy this year. No matter how slow things were, we could always depend on him to say something that would cause us to slap our foreheads in disbelief. You just can't buy that kind of coverage.Honorable. Mentions:In no particular order: The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board staffers who consistently ran afoul of Harrisburg's gendarmery; State lawmakers and the Rendellies agree to a $1 billion property tax reform package that doesn't benefit anyone we know (sorry, don't care, it's still modest, and Tom Barnes told us to say that); Gov. Ed wins re-election ... sorry, this one was no shockah; The federal probe of state Sen. Vince Fumo; Bill DeWeese becomes Hose Speaker-designee (they've given you the majority -- if you can keep it); Rep.Karen Beyer isn't becoming a Democrat; Rendellies name Dick Gmerek to new lobbyist disclosure panel; Lynn Swann didn't collect sales tax on his high-priced bric-a-brac; And he didn't vote, either.

So, there's the Year In A Nutshell. Send us your own suggestions, and we'll post the best of 'em when we get a moment. Have a Merry Christmas, a wonderful Hanukkah and a peaceful New Year. We'll see you all in January.

Current Comments

Fatmouth Eddie know how to scam and scheme with the all-time best in hx.

Fatmouth is the Heisman Trophy winner in the crooked pol world. Eddie is a PA State Corporatist.

Santorum and Spector are Global Corporatists. Rick will remain one for life. See his next 'position'.

Posted By: R Moshki | Dec 11, 2006 9:55:16 AM

Modest, minimal property tax relief plan of 2006. For such a wonderful plan, why would the governor make property tax relief one of his top priorities in his second term? I suppose there is consolation that he's admitting he was BSing everybody last year. Same with Scatnati and DeWeese.

For four years of listening to Rendell blather, I am only getting $47 - if his gambling comes in at $1 billion!

Rendell is a crook and a lier, but the Republicans had a candidate who couldn't catch an issue when it went straight to his hands.

Swann should have stayed with football.

Posted By: Greg | Dec 9, 2006 7:03:39 AM

Leave A Comment

NOTE: Please express your opinions in a civil and respectful manner. Insensitive, inflammatory and derogatory comments will be removed at our discretion.